Electrically-heated press for leather-work.



E. N. CHANDLER.

ELEGTRIGALLY HEATED PRESS FOR LEATHER WORK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1909. 984,508, Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1909. Patented Feb- 14, SHEET 2.

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nn HHHH l I I I I I l .llvll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN N. CHANDLER, 0F BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SIMPLEX ELEG-TRIO HEATING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS-sAoH'UsETTs.

ELECTRICALLY-HEATED PRESS FOR LEATHER-WORK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN N. CHANDLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at- Broekton, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Electrically-HeatedPresses for Leather-Work, of which the following description, inconnection with the accon1- panying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

In the shoe and leather industry many leather articles, such asin-soles, shoe tops, stays, etc, are reinforced by the appllcation ofcanvas lining or other textile fabrics to the leather. This hasheretofore been accomplished by coating either the leather or fabric,and usually both, with rubber cement or the like and after it has setthenpassing them between heated rollers or passing over them a heatedironing tool. In this ironing operation however it is impossible toavoid stretching one surface more than the other and otherwisedistorting the product so that the reinforced leather is uneven andimperfeet. In my experience in shoe factory work I have found that I cansecure superior re sults by providing uniform vertical pressuresimultanously throughout the entire area of the article. Accordingly mypresent invention is a machine for accomplishing this uniform pressureunder the most favorable conditions. I secure uniform pressure byproviding a press with a self-alining bot-tom portion or plate on whichthe leather is placed and I secure uniform accurate heating by providingthe top plate with elecmatieally adjusts itself to the thicknessof theleather and its reinforcing layer, so that the fabric is not drawn orpulled at any point and the two layers of leather and fabric are notunequally compressed or heated at any point. If the material has athicker portion, it is not crushed nor are the other portions not wellset together, but the press automatically alines itself so as to applyuniform pressure at all points and also uni- Specification of LettersPatent. Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

Application filed June 8, 1909.

Serial No. 500,799.

form heat at all points. The spring supported base also preventsexcessive pressure.

The constructional details and further advantages of my invention willbe pointed out more at length in the course of the following descriptiontaken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have showna preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, F igure 1 represents the apparatus in side elevation;Fig. 2 is a crosssectional view on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows inside elevation a modified construction, the lower portion being brokenaway and sectioned for clcarness of illustrationjFig. 4: is a frontelevation thereof; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 Fig.2.

The general construction of the press may be greatly varied inasmuch asmy invention relates primarily to the provision for combining uniformpressure and heat to the leather and fabric being united, so that noportion thereof will be crushed or squeezed 'the' bottom plate 2, saidspring being retained in a housing or recess 6 formed around the post 3in the base 1. Preferably a cloth or other covering 7 is provided on thetop surface of the bottom plate 2. Above the bottom plate 2 is a topplate 8 which may be thick or thin, being herein shown as thin, for bestcarrying out the 0bject of the invention. In this plate, preferably asclose as practicable to the bottom plane surface or pressing face 9thereof, I provide resistance wires 10 as best shown in Fig. 2, whosecircuit wires connect by a conductor 11 to a rheostat or othercontrolling apparatus 12 so as to maintain the top plate 8 properly anduniformly heated. This plate is secured to a post or plunger 13 mountedto slide in the outer end 15L of a supporting bracket 15 which extendsup integrally from the base 1. Pivoted at 16 on an arm 17 extendingupwardly from said bracket is a lever 18 loosely pivoted at In Figs. 35,instead of having a pivoted or centrally supported bottom plate or tablewith the top plate eccentric thereof, I have shown a bottom plate 2supported at its corners on posts 3 held in housings 4 yieldingly bysprings 5 in housings 6*. This construction secures substantially thesame automatic alinement of the bed or table by which it yields so as toconform accurately tothe varying thickness of the work, but thepreferred construction has the added advantage of facilitating theprogress of the work inasmuch as a fresh piece of work is being laid onthe projecting portion of the table while a previous piece is beingheated and pressed on the rear part of the table, and as soon as the twopieces are read the treadle is raised so as to free the table and thelatter is turned around bringing the new piece beneath the top plate andthe pressed piece toward the front in position for removal. By havingthe top plate or pressing plate arranged to extend beyond the centrallyyielding support of the rotary table the pressure on the bottom plate ortable 2 tends to exert only The electric current is then turned on bymeans of the rheostat so as: to bring the under surface 9 of the topplate into the required gently heated condition, and the two layers arethen placedin proper position with relation to each other between thetop and bottom plates of the press, the leather being usually placed onthe bottom plate 2 with the reinforcing fabric on top so that it willreceive the top plate 8 in direct contact therewith. The treadle is thendepressed, operating through the'rod 20, lever 18, and

' plunger 13 to depress the top plate 8 forcibly against the reinforcingfabric side of the work, and as said plate presses firmly against thework the bottom plate 2 yields and rocks or tilts automatically, byreason of its spring support or supports, to conform to the requirementsof whatever inequality may exist in the work, so that the pressure onthe work is thereby rendered uniform. Notonly is the pressure verticalor perpendicular to the leather and the fabric as distinguished from theusual ironing and stretching operation, but because of the resilientbottom plate excessive pressure is prevented and the pressure is firmand even at all points. I have found it practicable to produce aperfectly uniform product with this press and in much less time thanrequired by the old method. The workre mains but an instant under theheating pressure inasmuch as the heat is applied uniformly andsimultaneously at all points and passes instantly through the fabric tothe cemented surfaces so as to convert the latter instantly into therequired condition for uniting permanently and perfectly the two layersunder the uniform pressure of the unyielding plate 8 and the'yieldingselfalining plate 2.

lVhile I have described my invention in connection with its primaryobject, I wish it understood that its use is not restricted to the shoeand leather industry and that its constructional features may be variedto a limited extent within the spirit and scope of the claims ashereinafter set forth. I Having described my invention, what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. A heated press for preparing reinforced products, comprising a bottomplate,

means for mounting the' same to be bodily yieldable, said means beingconstructed to permit universal tipping of said plate so as to beself-alining with reference to a top plate, a top plate with provisionfor heating the same, normally parallel to the bottom plate, and meansfor moving one of said plates forcibly toward the other for equallycompressing and heating the material being reinforced.

2. A heated press for preparing reinforced products, comprising a bottomplate, means for mounting the same to be bodily yieldable, said meansbeing constructed to permit universal tipping of said plate so as to beself-alining with reference to a top plate, an electrically heated topplate nor-' mally parallel to the bottom plate, a vertically movableplunger carrying \said top plate, means normally holding said, top plateand plunger raised, and means for de pressing them toward the bottomplate for equally compressing and heating the material being reinforced.

3. A heated press for preparing reinforced products, comprising aWork-receiving plate and an opposite electrically heated plate, normallyparallel to each other for receiving a piece of work between them,supparallel, and means for moving one of said plates forcibly toward theother. I 4. A heated press for preparing reinforced products, comprisinga vertically movable pressure-applying plate, a work, receiving plate,pivotally mounted and hav- 'ing provision for yielding vertically out ofparallelism with the other plate to aline itself with a piece of workwhose opposite sides are not parallel, when said piece of Work ispressed hard by the pressure-applying plate, and means for heating oneof said plates.

5. A 'heatedpress for preparing reinforced products, comprising awork-receiving plate mounted to turn horizontally on a Vertical pivotand having provision for yielding tipping on said pivot, an oppositevertically movable pressure-applying plate, mounted e'ccentrically abovesaid pivoted work-receiving plate to apply pressure to work when placedat one side of the latter, and means for heating one of said plates.

(5. A heated press for preparing reinforced products, comprising awork-receiving plate mounted to turn horizontally on a vertical pivotand having provision for yieldingly tipping on said pivot, an oppositevertically movable pressure-applying plate, mounted eccentrically abovesaid pivoted work-receiving plate to apply pressure to work when placedatone side of the latter, said pressure-applying plate overlap-.

ping the work-receiving plate slightly beyond the pivot thereof, andmeans for heating one of said plates.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN N. CHANDLER.

l/Vitnesses: EDWARD MAXWELL, M. J. SrALD Ne.

